Fimming With My Blaze: A Complete How to FIM Guide

Nice man! I just did this to my little 3 inch plant and want to see how it'll do. Thanks.

I never really thought fimming was ever worth using over just plain topping, since you can get as many tops as you want by just repeatedly topping it, but I see that this can cut down the time that you have to veg, but its more of a gamble because you don't really know how many tops you are going to end up with in the end.

born2killspam said:

Perfect companion thread to UB's to sticky..

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indeed - been doing this for ions now but never knew it stood for that !!!! i lol'd and nearly spat my coffee on the screen hehehe


ill pull some pics out and show a few ive done recently as at week 7 on some and have just FIM'd some in veg around a week ago

top stuff OP and plus rep for sure

lurkmaster said:

I never really thought fimming was ever worth using over just plain topping, since you can get as many tops as you want by just repeatedly topping it, but I see that this can cut down the time that you have to veg, but its more of a gamble because you don't really know how many tops you are going to end up with in the end.

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haha well it will either be 3 or 4 tops. I never thought that chance of more main shoots was ever too great to detour me from doing it

Honestly I don't know how/when the name happened.. About 15 years ago I heard FIM for the first time, but was told it was a mystery as to what it stood for.. This was common opinion on overgrow.com about 5-10 years ago too.. Now I come here and hear it stands for Fuck I Missed.. It does work granted, but I'm not sure if its the real deal name wise, or given after the fact..

notoriousb said:

haha well it will either be 3 or 4 tops. I never thought that chance of more main shoots was ever too great to detour me from doing it

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Well then I fail to see how this method is even worth using if thats the case, a lack of consistency for a chance at the same results of a proven method?

You can get 4 tops 100% of the time by just plain topping.

This method will work well for alot of grow spaces where straight up topping is less convenient.. Thats what makes it worth using..

born2killspam said:

This method will work well for alot of grow spaces where straight up topping is less convenient.. Thats what makes it worth using..

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Can you elaborate? I can't think up any scenario that would put fimming out on top.

I used to think fimming was worthless because I would always see people fimming their plants at the very top with 7-8 nodes below the fim point wondering why they had a bunch of dinky colas.

If I had a choice between fimming my plant or leaving it alone I would most definitely fim it.

I just can't seem to see fimming as anything other than inferior to topping with a chance at getting the same results.



Excluding time constraints what real benefits does fimming have over topping?

See I actually don't like big overworked colas, I prefer little 3-5g buds.. You can usually keep the plant shorter with less hassle using FIM too.. Its good for microgrowers for one..

born2killspam said:

See I actually don't like big overworked colas, I prefer little 3-5g buds.. You can usually keep the plant shorter with less hassle using FIM too.. Its good for microgrowers for one..

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If you want smaller buds just top your plant higher...

I would think the opposite in respect to height when you fim.

When you top the plant you are chopping off vertical growth, when you fim it you leave the vertical growth where it is.

Topping would be more suited for micro grows than fimming.

I see more room for hassle and error with fimming versus topping.

The plant is NOT growing symmetrically when it is fimmed.

When it is topped it IS, which is why topping is less work than any other form of training.



I'm not trying to say fimming doesn't work, but if there is nothing unique it really offers why bother?

I don't have an OCD thing for symmetry.. I've done both ways a few times, its not theoretical.. It can be a good way to go..

born2killspam said:

I don't have an OCD thing for symmetry.. I've done both ways a few times, its not theoretical.. It can be a good way to go..

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Yea thats good that you don't I guess?

Symmetric = efficient and simple was the point I was trying to make.


I guess what it all boils down to is this..


If fimming doesn't produce more tops, why do micro-surgery on your plant tops and hope for the best, when you can make your plant do exactly what you want without having to go to that level of precision by just using plain topping?

But symmetry isn't the best option for all setups.. For instanceWith limited height/space, growing them like a right angled triangle up against a reflective surface will give you better light usage because you can side light the plant and not be wasting the symmetrical shoots on the opposite side..

born2killspam said:

But symmetry isn't the best option for all setups.. For instanceWith limited height/space, growing them like a right angled triangle up against a reflective surface will give you better light usage because you can side light the plant and not be wasting the symmetrical shoots on the opposite side..

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You can train your plants however you want to regardless of how you top them.

You can get 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 however many tops you want in whatever space you want using conventional topping methods without having to perform microsurgery.

You can fucking do anything.. FIM is another tool in the box.. Some ppl use the proper tool for a job, other ppl do everything with a hammer..

lurkmaster said:

I never really thought fimming was ever worth using over just plain topping, since you can get as many tops as you want by just repeatedly topping it, but I see that this can cut down the time that you have to veg, but its more of a gamble because you don't really know how many tops you are going to end up with in the end.

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These no gamble about it and there is no stress on the plant.

lurkmaster said:

Well then I fail to see how this method is even worth using if thats the case, a lack of consistency for a chance at the same results of a proven method?

You can get 4 tops 100% of the time by just plain topping.

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I get very consistant results every time and this is a proven method. I dont want 4 tops I want 4 main branches! Each branch then grows multiple colas so that is the benefits of this method.

lurkmaster said:

Can you elaborate? I can't think up any scenario that would put fimming out on top.

I used to think fimming was worthless because I would always see people fimming their plants at the very top with 7-8 nodes below the fim point wondering why they had a bunch of dinky colas.

If I had a choice between fimming my plant or leaving it alone I would most definitely fim it.

I just can't seem to see fimming as anything other than inferior to topping with a chance at getting the same results.

Excluding time constraints what real benefits does fimming have over topping?

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Ive never had a problem with dinky colas. Infact its quiet the opposite with me. I have never seen the same results come from topping and I have tried it many times.

The benefits are its simplicity, lack of plant stress, rapid branch growth which results in many colas on each branch, a wider fuller canopy, higher yield. Did I leave anything out?

lurkmaster said:

I see more room for hassle and error with fimming versus topping.

The plant is NOT growing symmetrically when it is fimmed.

When it is topped it IS, which is why topping is less work than any other form of training.

I'm not trying to say fimming doesn't work, but if there is nothing unique it really offers why bother?

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No hassle and I am yet to make an error since its so simple to do and I have done it many times over with very consistant results.

lurkmaster said:

If fimming doesn't produce more tops, why do micro-surgery on your plant tops and hope for the best, when you can make your plant do exactly what you want without having to go to that level of precision by just using plain topping?

Click to expand...

lurkmaster said:

You can train your plants however you want to regardless of how you top them.

You can get 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 however many tops you want in whatever space you want using conventional topping methods without having to perform microsurgery.

Click to expand...

Its not micro surgery and after all I just use my fingers to FIM so not even sisscors are required. All done in a matter of a seconds. Over all its just a simple effective method to produce many colas and bud sites which results in a higher yielding plant.

M Blaze said:

These no gamble about it and there is no stress on the plant.


The benefits are its simplicity, lack of plant stress, rapid branch growth which results in many colas on each branch, a wider fuller canopy, higher yield. Did I leave anything out?



Its not micro surgery and after all I just use my fingers to FIM so not even sisscors are required. All done in a matter of a seconds. Over all its just a simple effective method to produce many colas and bud sites which results in a higher yielding plant.

Click to expand...

agree with you almost wholeheartely. the plant does recieve some stress from the fim method . small amount of stress can be a positive thing to stimulate a surge of growth as you touched on what is infact what happens i believe (some more scientiofc can explain what happens. its like when you do the soma method and squeeze your top stems virtually snapping the in some instances during veg,... its ends the energy for growth elswhere (i.e the bottoms of the pant ) and repairs the top whilst discouraging growth at the top end.

if im worng someone can enlighten me


anyway as promised a pic or 2 of the FIM ive done on a GHS cheese. always do it with my fingers tbh so i may try the scoccors for a more accurate job in the future .. loves this thread and a back advocate of teh FIM method.

last thing ill say is that some of the mistakes people make when fimming are

fim too late and put the plant into flower striaght after doing it or worse still fim during the 1st week of flower


some plants dont react well to fim method grapefuit ( a sativa) for example didnt particularly do better than when left alone and was very hard to support the mass of quickly growing branches.

supporting via netting and yo yos is a good way to get the best outof fimming with sativas and sativa dominante cross breeds


anyway top thread once again man - kudos


1) GHS cheese 21 days after cloning (12 then 8 days after FIM)
2) same but a diffirent view

What are we defining as stress to a plant anyways?? Are they worried the other plants are going to laugh at them because they look different?? You can butcher a plant and it will hardly flinch.. Stress occurs when evironmental aspects impede growth.. All thats hapening here is auxin redistribution, or lack there of..

Here is a few pics from different grows just to show how consistent my results are. This is just the way I do it and how I choose to grow and the results are exactly what I plan to achieve every time.

The main branches

Last grow





Another plant from a different grow which is tied up and down and left and right to create a very wide monster plant




Now here is some more pics at various stages of different grows to show you how symmetrical the plants grow with a little bit of help from tying/training of coarse.







Another grow

Mmm those look so tasty M Blaze how long do you veg until you actually fim? looks like there's jusssst enough room for your lights to sit comfortably